Various networking protocols allow a plurality of network devices to communicate over a network, e.g., a ring network. For example, Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) is an automotive infotainment protocol where bytes of synchronous data such as audio and video are transported in time-divisioned multiplexed frames around a ring network. The protocol is specified up to the application layer, which implies a compliant network services stack running in software. Thus, a Network Interface Controller (NIC) will allow compliancy at the application level while providing connectivity at the physical layer, e.g., an optical ring.
Generally, within each network device, an interface, e.g., a shared bus, is employed to allow communications between various embedded cores. For example, an embedded core may be tasked with an encryption function, a decryption function and the like. However, movement of data to and from such embedded cores to a centralized memory core is computational expensive given that a processor of the NIC is already tasked with supporting various network services. Although a Direct Memory Access (DMA) module can be deployed to assist the processor in the movement of the data to and from the memory core, the use of the DMA module would incur extra bus overhead, and may not be appropriate for certain real-time applications. Furthermore, employing a DMA module is also expensive, thereby increasing the overall cost of the network device.